Greetings from the Ocean Tramp!
Our last few days have been penguins, penguins, penguins! Orne Island was one of our stops, where after a steep hike we found ourselves cliff side to a Chinstrap rookery. Many big chicks- almost the size of their parents, but still had their chick fluffy plumage. While we thought the hike up was steep, you can only imagine the plight a Chinstrap does going up and down the cliff in order to bring food to their young!
In the afternoon, we landed at Cuverville island to anchor for the night, at one of the largest Gentoo rookeries, where lots of whale bones were found along the beach as well. With Quixote, you truly get to take the time to really explore and observe the wildlife. We spent two hours amongst the Gentoos, observing their “super” highway system of carved out paths, careful placements of rocks for their nest, and their protective calls whenever a skua flew overhead. At night, we could hear the Gentoo calls from our cabins.
The next day we made our journey to Brown Station and Port Lockroy, passing through Paradise Harbor (rightly named)! Our crew carefully navigated through ice to give us safe passage. We also spotted several humpbacks and minke whales, of which I was able to collect some infrared footage of. Part of my research is to compare signatures of different species, so I was delighted to add a new species to my data. Different species can be more detectable than others, so it’s important to investigate these differences.
At Brown station we officially landed on the mainland- and our British guests proudly took a picture with their flag and newspaper to commemorate. In the evening we arrived at Port Lockroy, but weather kept us at anchor. Our crew worked hard navigating through gale winds and icy channels, and impressively anchored in these high winds. This is quite a reminder of the unpredictably of Antarctica- and that life moves a different pace here. We often take all the conveniences of home for granted, where most of the time ice does not dictate what we can and cannot do. Makes us appreciate everything we’ve been able to see so far during our trip.
En route now to attempt the Lemaire Channel – we’ll see what the ice has in store for us!
Cheers,
Laura
